Streisand files $10m suit
2003-06-02 14:19
Los Angeles - Superstar Barbra Streisand has sued an amateur photographer for $10 million for allegedly invading her privacy and putting her at risk by posting pictures of her mansion on the internet.
Streisand filed the suit against dotcom millionaire Ken Adelman in Los Angeles on May 20, accusing him and his wife of compromising her security by giving details of the seaside home in Malibu to potentially stalkers.
"The quality of the photographs is staggering," according to the lawsuit which Streisand said she filed after the Adelmans, who took the pictures as part of a survey of the erosion of the California coastline, refused to remove them from their website.
It said the pictures provided the layout of the singer and actress' pool, the location of her windows, balconies and French doors as well as the "positioning of her parasols and deck chairs" around the pool.
The picture, one of 12 000 of the California coast on the couple's website, had caused Streisand "considerable anxiety" because she had been exposed to "past threats to her personal safety", the suit alleged.
It said that Streisand, one of Hollywood's top stars and known for her intensely private lifestyle, had painstakingly searched for a property that could not been seen by the naked eye from either the street or the beach below her cliff top mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
In addition, her telephone number is unlisted and her house is registered in a name that cannot be traced back to her in a bid to protect her privacy, the suit said, adding that the Adelmans had negated such measures by posting the picture and identifying it as the "Streisand estate".
But the Adelmans retorted by denying that they had intended to single out Streisand's house and refusing to remove the picture from the website simply because a celebrity objected.
"Our goal is to create a complete record of the California coastline," Adelman said in a statement.
"It is not possible to provide the public with a complete record without the photographs of the coast that happen to include Ms Streisand's estate. We do not believe in giving special treatment to wealthy coastal land owners."
Saying he was "profoundly disappointed" by Streisand's suit, Adelman said he would defend himself against the suit.
"Streisand moved to the California Coast because of its beauty, and now she seeks to deny the public the right to see and protect the same coast that she enjoys," he said.
Streisand, 61, who is married to actor James Brolin, has been a major star since the 1960s and is known for such films as 1968's Funny Girl, and the 1970s' pictures The Way We Were with Robert Redford and A Star is Born.
- AFX